Here is how the transition is unfolding. All times Eastern.
Dec 18, 2020, 12:15 PM EST
Biden announces additional members of White House communications and press staff
Biden announced additional members of his White House communications and press shop on Friday, a slate of 16 names that include many people who served on the press team for his successful presidential campaign.
President-elect Joe Biden speaks as he announces former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg as his nominee for secretary of transportation during a news conference at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Del., Dec. 16, 2020.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
“Restoring faith in government by speaking honestly and directly to the American people will be a hallmark of my administration," Biden said in a statement announcing the hires.
-ABC News' John Verhovek
Dec 18, 2020, 12:10 PM EST
Ivanka Trump to campaign for Georgia Senate candidates on Monday
On the same day Vice President-elect Kamala Harris plans to visit Georgia to campaign for Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock, Ivanka Trump will be there to campaign for their GOP opponents, Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Purdue, the Georgia GOP announced in a tweet.
In this Aug. 11, 2020, file photo, Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump speaks during an event at the State Department in Washington, DC.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
“Excited to welcome @IvankaTrump to Georgia on Monday to campaign for @Perduesenate & @KLoeffler!” the party tweeted, sharing an article by Atlanta’s Fox station that says the president's daughter and adviser is scheduled to make three stops focusing on the Atlanta suburbs, including Milton, Suwanee and Walton County.
Both Republicans and Democrats have homed in on the runoff election as it will determine which party holds power in the U.S. Senate.
-ABC News' Ben Gittleson
Dec 18, 2020, 11:47 AM EST
Harris to campaign for Georgia Senate candidates on Monday
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will travel to Suwanee and Columbus, Georgia, on Monday in a show of support for Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock ahead of their runoff races on Jan. 5.
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris speaks during an event to announce new cabinet nominations at the Queen Theatre on Dec. 11, 2020, in Wilmington, Del.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The visit will fall nearly a week after Biden traveled to Atlanta to stump for the candidates.
Trump chose Georgia as the location of his first and only rally since the election to air his grievances with the presidential election and stump for sitting GOP Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Purdue. Vice President Mike Pence has already made two trips to the Peach State this month, calling Georgia the GOP's "last line of defense."
Washington brings rare rays of hope for the holidays: Analysis
It would qualify as audacious to expect hope in anything other than small packages this dismal year.
So it is surprising that Washington heads into the holidays with some of the best news it's been able to deliver in some time.
COVID-19 vaccine development has brought historic breakthroughs, as dramatized Friday morning when Vice President Mike Pence received his first shot live on television.
Vice President Mike Pence receives a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shot at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Dec. 18, 2020.
Andrew Harnik/AP
Bitter post-election fights over the integrity of the vote are sputtering to a close, with Monday's Electoral College vote providing a pivot point for Republicans to accept former Vice President Joe Biden as president-elect.
And Congress is closing in on deals to keep the government open and provide new rounds of COVID-19 relief, though not without some drama that could drag things close to Christmas.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell walks through the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC., Dec. 16, 2020.
Erin Scott/Reuters
There are more than enough reasons for despair as a long winter begins. Few, least of all Biden and his team, are mistaking positive signs for a breakthrough of bipartisanship -- certainly not so long as Trump's grip on the GOP continues.
Something else that made this week stand out: Trump has said almost nothing in public. He'll make plenty of noise over the next month, but a post-Trump world might be coming into view.
